The Art Of The Storyboard Diorama

[JohnReid]

On the top R/H side of the pic you can see the dispatch office door that opens onto the hangar floor.The boss looks like he is discussing the next booze run .As you can see the carpenter's shop is a closed unit separate from the main shop floor.The door on the left leads to the WC/coal storage room which then leads to the backdoor.
As you can see part of the tail of the Canuck has been replaced with a JN4 wooden one.Interchanging of parts is a common practice around here depending upon what is available at the time.Pilots will often ask us to change the flying characteristics of their airplanes to suit themselves.Often the C of G will be modified to carry heavy loads or make the airplane a little more unstable for some of their aerobatic maneuvers.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

Usually things are not so neat and clean around here.We have taken a little time to clean up some of the junk that was lying around.The prop designer has been hard at work trying to shape the prop to the proper specifications using mostly hand tools in the process.

Note: I included this pic in the storyboard line up mostly because I like it.Some of you guys may have noticed that the view from the carpenters shop windows looks out on to the hanger floor and not a wooden wall as depicted here.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

Its been a long night for Chester chasing all those mice around the shop.Now he is flaked out near the stove ,in his favorite spot, sucking up the heat.

Note: I have put 4 animals in this diorama for the kids to try and find ,with various degrees of difficulty ,and Chester is the most difficult.I find that kids love this kind of thing and it really is a great way to get them more involved in the diorama.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

Hi guys ! I had a little fun with this picture.If you look closely at the newspaper you will see pictures of the first men on the moon.I just couldn't resist making this prediction.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

Well here we are back in the engine shop again.The WW1 era Mercedes engine is undergoing a bit of a tune up after being mothballed for awhile after the war.There is lots of surplus stuff like this around now,including pilots and airplanes.For a lot of us it has been a real struggle to stay in business.It seems that hardly anyone is interested in aviation these days apart from its entertainment value.I guess that people are just fed up with war and anything that was associated with it,including airplanes.Even the Wright brothers are having doubts about the whole thing and are saying maybe it was a mistake to help invent such a tool of destruction.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

Ya know sometimes I wonder if I am going to way too much trouble with this diorama to tell a basically very simple story,an airman's return from the war and his continued relationship with his backyard Flyer.At times I wonder if there is enough of a storyline to justify such a huge space.
Rockwell's painting is tight with lots going on ,mine is spacious with little going on.His painting is of a joyous occasion ,my diorama is somewhat the opposite,just a GI and his thoughts for the future.
It is an old story told in many ways before.The split in the road and the road not taken tells of fateful decisions made that change everything forever.
I remember as a child being around men such as these,how important family and just being alive was to them.A lot were great fathers while others were just lost in their memories. I remember how important things like growing a community garden was to them,how they tended those gardens and how everybody respected those tiny spaces .I have included a garden in this diorama for that very reason.
Roads,gardens,airplane it just grew over time I guess.

 

[JohnReid]

 

[JohnReid]

Just outside the engine shop they are loading on some of the salvageable parts and pieces from the JN4 to put in storage.Hank the barnstormer is trying to make a little time with Cheryl our wingwalker who is probably wondering why do I put my life in the hands of this good old boy every season ? These wingwalkers are quite a bunch in fact just the other day I received a letter stating "when present wing walker is killed I want the job."